Remember when I said this story has dark elements? Follow the warnings. Graphic depiction of violence, implied attempted sexual assault.
Emma led Regina down into her quarters, glad that she cleaned the night before, and she removed her hat and threw it on the rack. Then she held out her hand. Regina gave her a strange look, and Emma gestured to the chair.
"Gentlemen escort ladies to their seats."
"Is that what you're calling it?" Regina asked.
Emma wiggled her fingers impatiently, and Regina hummed and took Emma's hand, allowing her to take her to the seat in front of the desk. Once Regina was settled, Emma went around to her chair and plopped down, throwing her legs on the table. Regina clicked her teeth and pushed her boots down, and Emma chuckled as she sat up straight.
"Once a Queen, always a Queen," she said.
"And it would do well for you to remember that." Emma held up her hands in surrender, and Regina crossed her legs. "Why am I down here, Captain?" she asked.
"You're curious about who I am, seeing as my father adamantly and proudly denied his children as much as he loved and supported them. Because of that, I tend to keep my heritage close to my chest. But as the stories go, you know more about my family than you let on." Emma cocked her head and added, "Both sides, I believe."
"Both?"
"See, on the day of your curse," Emma began, "it was reported that Snow White had disappeared from her castle, mysteriously and abruptly leaving behind her husband and staff to fight off your soldiers and all that, correct?"
Regina bristled at the question, still angry that Snow had gotten away at the last minute, but mollified the woman was still swept up in the curse. She nodded once, and Emma made an offhand gesture.
"Well, you should know that Snow was at the docks," she said. "The Queen, or whatever her title was, was begging merchants for help. And as the tale goes, it's said that she carried with her a small infant, her daughter, fresh out of the womb and completely unaware of the chaos surrounding her. Snow was begging for the men to take her child away with no mention of herself. So, naturally, just when all hope was lost, the great Snow White found a ship at the very end of the docks, primed for departure. The Captain, albeit hesitant at first, offered Snow what she so desperately wanted - safe passage for her child."
Emma leaned forward, and Regina watched the humor and sarcasm fade away. She placed a hand on her throat and feigned a look of desperation.
"Please," she said in a perfect replication of Snow White's voice. "Save her, so that she may one day save us."
Regina jerked back in surprise, and Emma snorted, dropping her hand.
"My apologies, I forgot to warn you about a little trick of mine," she said. "With my father gone, his…memories have somehow become mine. There are a lot of voices in my head, but that is neither here nor there."
"You can mimic?" Regina asked.
"I can do a lot more than that, your Majesty. Nevertheless, Snow's desire stemmed from some prophecy, where the Savior would rescue them from the Evil Queen's clutches and break the curse. The child was a bargaining chip for a future that would or would not happen, yet Snow White's faith in that insipid prophecy blinded her to a maternal instinct that most women, if not all, are born with. So she chose to sacrifice her child in the process, giving her to strangers instead of keeping her to face whatever terrible, terrible thing the Evil Queen came up with. Whether that be eternal torture, or, apparently, a realm without magic. Still, Snow's plan would have worked had she not given her daughter to the Devil himself."
Regina stiffened, putting the pieces together, and she looked at Emma a little closer. Her eyes widened, and Emma started laughing.
"Aye, your Majesty. My bloodline is rotten to the core, spoiled by the Royal nature it was birthed from. Yet ironically enough, it was my father who cleansed me."
"You're Snow White's-
"Nothing," Emma interrupted sharply. "I am her nothing. I told you that to answer your question of how I came to be Blackbeard's child. My father was a pirate, not a King."
Regina clenched her jaw and looked off to the side. She glanced at all of the maps and crudely drawn sketches, the globes and telescopes, and she realized Emma had a point. Snow White gave Emma up as an infant, so any nature versus nurture argument was almost mute. Emma was Blackbeard's child, regardless of whether nature was involved at all.
She was his.
"I didn't need you to break the curse," Regina said. "I did it myself."
"Really? Why?"
"Henry. Our relationship is worth more than a few angry townspeople."
"Fair enough. He seems like a good boy."
"He is."
Emma stared at Regina, eyes searching, and then she stood and came around her desk, moving toward the cabinet. She chose a bottle at random and popped the top, drinking straight from it. Regina watched her with a strange sense of curiosity and disgust, and Emma got through half before she pulled it away from her lips. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and started chuckling.
"You may not notice, but you have this look in your eyes where you still doubt what I say."
"Even you have to admit it seems fantastical, that after all these years, long after the curse is broken, the Savior rolls into Storybrooke. Except she's not a White Knight looking to rescue her family, she's a pirate here to do what, exactly?"
"I came here for Captain Hook," Emma said. "I want his head."
"Are you serious? You came here to kill Killian?"
"You two on a first name basis, are you?"
Regina rolled her eyes and stood up, saying, "Jealousy is an awful look on you and immensely unattractive. As for Hook," she sighed, "why do you want him dead? He's harmless. Nothing but a pest."
"A pest that murdered my family," Emma growled.
"Kil - Hook murdered your father?"
"And my sisters, my nephews, and my brother-in-law. I have no one but the men on this ship, and we have all lost someone because of him. So regardless of how you may view him, your Majesty, Hook will die by my hands, whether it be here or somewhere else."
"Look, I know you have your father's magic, and I know you have this persona, and as dark and delicious as it all might be, killing is a completely different ballgame. Taking a person's life isn't a game."
Emma twitched and snagged a sketch off the wall, walking over and pressing it into Regina's chest. Regina stumbled back into the desk, and Emma dug her finger into their face, which was directly over Regina's sternum. Regina bit back a hiss from the pain, and Emma bent down to look her in the eyes.
"The man in that picture once worked on this ship with my father. I was thirteen when I discovered that he was going into villages and forcing women into his bed under my father's name. The only reason I found out was because he tried to do it to me, the bastard was too drunk to recognize who I was, and so I smashed a bottle against his head. Then," Emma moved her hand up to Regina's throat and squeezed, "I took a piece of the glass and sliced at his throat until I removed his head from his spine," she said.
Emma let go, and Regina sucked in a sharp breath. The picture fluttered to the floor between them, and Emma pointed to the picture to her left without taking her eyes off of Regina.
"That man, I took great pleasure in killing him. He tried to murder Tobias in his sleep, hoping that in his absence, my father would choose him to take his place. So I had him dragged to the deck at sunrise, and then I carved out each organ one by one until he died of blood loss." Emma twisted to the right, pointing to a picture of a woman, and she shook her arm, causing her sleeve to fall down and revealing a burn covering half of her forearm to her wrist. "That woman was a favor to one of the men on my ship, who grew up in her home and watched her brand the children like cattle. He lost two sisters and three brothers to infection because the wounds didn't heal properly, so I broke into her home and held her face over the fire until her skin fell off the bone."
Emma slammed the bottle on the desk, and then she gripped Regina's waist. Regina exhaled sharply, and Emma grinned.
"Do not presume to know who I am, your Majesty. I am no Princess fated to heal the heart of the Evil Queen. And I am not a little girl playing pretend because her father isn't around." Emma brushed her lips across Regina's, then over her jaw, and finally, to her ear, whispering, "Hook will pay for his crimes against my family, and it will be a slow and painful death. Should you stand in my way, make no mistake. I will kill you too."
Regina draped her arms over Emma's shoulders and whispered back, "Do not make promises you cannot keep, Captain."
"I tend to keep my word, your Majesty."
Regina tilted her head and glanced to the side, noting how close to Emma she truly was. She looked up, and that time, she knew without a doubt that the black eyes she saw at the apartment were no illusion. The mark on Emma's forehead was more defined up close, intricately detailed and almost moving against Emma's skin. Regina lifted her leg slowly and curled it around Emma's waist.
"I do not appreciate being threatened, Captain Swan."
"Nor did I like making it, but I stand by my words."
"Obviously, or you would not have said them."
"Are you upset?"
"Does it seem like I am upset?" Regina asked.
"You tell me. You have murder in your eyes, but your body language…"
"What?"
"It is a sign of trouble," Emma muttered. "I thought I had the upper hand."
Regina laughed and threw her head back, and Emma stared at the flesh on display. She leaned forward and ran her tongue up to the underside of Regina's jaw, and she nipped at the skin. Regina grabbed a fistful of Emma's hair and yanked it back until Emma was looking up at her.
"One thing to note, my dear, is that you will never have the upper hand."
"Why, your Majesty, that almost sounded like a challenge."
"Never that."
Regina released Emma and pushed her away. She stood and adjusted her dress, and Emma reached around her to pick up her bottle.
"Tell your men to do whatever they need to do, and I will escort you to my home so you can wash the sea off of you."
"What can I say? Saltwater is good for the soul."
Regina rolled her eyes and said, "As for Hook, I have yet to see him since he and my mother decided to pin a murder on me. The last I checked, they were on his ship and sailing East. But knowing them, especially my mother, they'll be back."
"I'm in no rush. Hook will be mine, of that I do not doubt. Until then, I want to enjoy Storybrooke and all that she has to offer." Emma looked Regina up and down, adding, "And in however many ways she sees fit."
"Careful, Captain, I am very protective of my town. Your brand of chaos will not destroy all that I have created."
"I promise to take great care of your town," Emma said.
Regina inhaled and exhaled, and she turned and left the room. Emma sat down on the edge of her desk and clicked her teeth.
"She is going to be trouble for me," she murmured.
Regina stood just outside of the door and caught her breath. She put a hand over her neck, laying her head flat against the wood, and she closed her eyes.
"Shit."